The present invention is directed to a method and system for payments from buyers to sellers on a multi-seller website, and for facilitating shipping, billing, and returning of merchandise.
With the advent of e-commerce, the Internet has become a vehicle for an increasing number of online transactions. In 2006, the online retail revenues in the United States are over a hundred billion dollars. While the business-to-customer (B2C) transactions make up the majority of this figure, customer-to-customer (C2C) transactions are gaining popularity. For example, e-commerce websites such as eBay and Craigslist facilitate millions of C2C transactions.
While the existing e-commerce websites provide useful tools for customers, they are vulnerable to various shortfalls. Among other things, the payment and returning policies of these websites are often unsatisfactory to customers. For example, Amazon Marketplace processes payment from the buyer and deposits it in the seller's payments account. The buyer is responsible for dealing directly with the seller if there is a problem. The buyer pays for shipment back to the seller, then the seller requests a refund using Amazon.com Payments.
eBay leaves it to individual sellers to handle how payments are received and processed. According to eBay's policy as posted on its web site, the buyer who is unsatisfied with merchandise(s) shipped from a seller needs to resort to a dispute process. Among other things, the buyer has to initiate a dispute process on eBay's website, and a dispute process ensues.
Paypal provides for payment from the buyer to the seller when an item is ordered, and an email is sent to the buyer's email address to confirm it was an authorized payment. If the goods don't arrive, or the wrong or damaged goods arrive, the buyer can use a PayPal dispute resolution process. PayPal also offers a Buyer Protection plan up to $2000 for items purchased on eBay.
Various methods have been developed for returning merchandise. For example, the United Parcel Service (UPS) filed a patent on a system and method for initiating returns over a network (U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,513). This patent describes an online return application that generates an electronic return shipping label that can be delivered to a browser of a customer that wishes to make a return. Also, disclosed is the creation and transmission of label delivery links, which provide for dynamic generation and delivery of shipping labels.
Pitney Bowes U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,690 describes a third party holding system for internet purchases between a buyer and seller. A process for negotiating a holding contract between the buyer and seller is provided. If the buyer uses a credit card, a fulfillment processor places a charge against the buyer's credit card. A carrier receives the bargained for goods from the seller and delivers them to the buyer. A processor monitors the carrier to determine when the goods have arrived. This triggers a timer. If the buyer either accepts or—does not notify the system before the agreed upon time period, the transaction is closed, and funds flow to the seller's account.